big belly

Peter Linn asked me what my favorite mile of the trip was so far.  I don't have an answer, but I will assure you that I've been thinking about it for at least a week now.  A  mile of horse travel takes us somewhere between 20 minutes and 45 minutes.  It's a mighty slow mode of travel and often times in one mile I can be having the best moment of my life and then the worst.  I'm pretty sure that there were some incredible miles that went by that I barely even noticed, except for the ten feet in front of us on which my eyes were fixed as I swam around in my head with day dreams.  But it's to be expected when you spend eight hours perched up in a saddle with a giant beast swaying underneath you almost rocking you to sleep with each step and each hoof crunching against the dirt and gravel in a gritty serenading kind of way.  But I do remember one day of horse travel and one part of a mile that I thought exceptionally beautiful, the kind of earthly beautiful that you would want your mother to see- that's perhaps how I might measure something wondrous- I think if it would amaze and enrapture my mother and if so then it is something of beauty.  In August I joined Peter and Tyson and Anders- "Lion Chasers", I mean Teton Outfitters for a pack trip in the Gros Ventres, a wilderness area on the east side of Jackson Hole.  Literally Gros Ventres is French for "big belly" which comes from the native American signing gesture of "always hungry", which I have not found information of how that developed but while I was in the Gros Ventres I most definitely felt like I was in a "big belly" and I am really looking forward to returning there to visit the famed Darwin Ranch.  We spent five days there with a great family, all of whom were also "Lion Chasers" too.  We packed in 18 horses, one rolling suitcase, 12 bottles of wine and all the other stuff that makes camp work...  Well as far as I can recall, for me, for the indulgence of my eyes, the day we climbed out of Crystal Creek and over the pass to the head waters of the Gros Ventre River might just be one of my favorite miles.  But it is hard to judge when moods have an inherent tendency to favor regardless of reason.  I suppose all things must have been just right for that mile through the Gros Ventres...